Activities of Antanas GUOGA related to 2015/2346(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Non-tariff barriers in the Single Market (A8-0160/2016 - Daniel Dalton)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on Non-Tariff Barriers in the Single Market PDF (292 KB) DOC (104 KB)
Amendments (24)
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas the monitoring of barriers and costs is piecemeal and unsystematic, quantification and clear identification of barriers and costs is lacking, which makes prioritisation of policy actions difficult;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
Fb. whereas businesses and individuals are facing major obstacles in cross border activities within the single market due to lack of availability and quality of information, assistance services and online procedures, leading to high administrative burden and significant compliance costs;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Realises that despite the removal of tariff barriers since 1 July 1968, the free movement of goods and services has continued to be hampered by non-tariff barriers (NTBs) such as national technical rules and requirements governing products and service providers; highlights that strengthening of the single market requires urgent actions at Union and Member States levels to address such NTBs;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Reiterates that the Digital Single Market Strategy and Single Market Strategy for Europe compose initiatives that should be implemented swiftly and ambitiously in order to reduce single market NTBs; highlights that it is crucial for these initiatives to be based on better regulation principles and on the most efficient tools, such as harmonisation and mutual recognition;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Believes that where such NTBs can be justified as proportionate, information on differing national regulatory requirements should be easily accessible; considers that the present system built around a diverse range of contact points, including Product Contact Points and Single Points of Contact, is deeply unsatisfactory; recalls the importance of strengthening and streamlining existing single market tools for SMEs in order to simplify their cross- border expansion; urges the Commission and the Member States to place greater emphasis on streamlining and improving these systems, in particular the need for rapid improvement of the Points of Single Contact and calls the Commission to report to the European Parliament on the progress and next steps by the end of 2016; highlights that understanding that by being more open and accessible as regards regulatory requirements their Member State becomes more attractive for inward investment;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Welcomes the Single Digital Gateway initiative and urges the Commission to create a single entry point for businesses and consumers to all single market related information, assistance, problem solving and to national and EU-wide procedures needed to operate cross-border in the EU;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines that for many companies, in particular SMEs, seeking to trade in another Member State, such an expansion will still from their perspective constitute ‘international trade’; highlights that SMEs, start-ups and innovative businesses, in particular sharing economy businesses, should be fully enabled to grow through cross-border trade;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Notes that the elimination of NTBs does not entail the limitation of workers' rights, where these are not discriminatory, disproportionate or fail to be founded upon a legitimate public policy objective;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Believes that the objective of the Union should be the eventualCalls for abolition of NTBs where they cannot be justified;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Highlights that compliance costs with VAT requirements is one of the biggest non-tariff barriers; calls for practical VAT simplification proposals;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. BelieveHighlights that differences in the speed of transposition and the exact implementation at national level of existing directives create legal uncertainty for businesses;
Amendment 72 #
8. Considers that where the Commission has repealed unnecessary EU legislation, Member States should act swiftly to repeal corresponding domestic provisionsUrges Member States to swiftly repeal outdated domestic provisions where the Commission has repealed unnecessary EU legislation;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. BelieveHighlights that inconsistent enforcement of existing correctly transposed rules causes the same harm as slow transposition; considers that compliance and enforcement are made more challenging when commonly used definitions are given different meanings in different pieces of legislation; calls for better regulation principles to be respected in the legislation drafting process;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Believes that unequal application of the same rules in different Member States has the potential to create new NTBs; considers that transposition workshops should be held in orderalls on the Commission to take every effort to minimisze divergences at anthe earlyiest stage;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Notes the persistence of national-level differences in product market regulation with which businesses operating across borders still have to contend both in terms of level of restriction and differences between Member States; considers that this unnecessarily forces businesses to adapt their products and services to comply with multiple standards or repeated testing, thus limiting intra-EU trade, reducing growth and hampering job creation;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Draws attention to the low levels of cross-border public procurement, with less than 20only 3,5 % of all public procurement in the Union publicised on pan-European platforms being awarded to companies from other Member States; underlines the need for fully electronic public procurement system; highlights the need for fast and comprehensive implementation of the Public Procurement Directive in its whole; calls for wider use of e-procurement to open the markets for SMEs;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Believes that many national administrative practices also give rise to NTBs, including requirements for formalising of documents by national bodies or offices; considers thaturges Members States should concentrate on e-governance as a way to reduce barriers, building on examples such as those in Estonia and Denmark, where a transition to digital services has simplified administration for businesses and citizeto use e-governance solutions and modernise their public administrations, building on examples such as those in Estonia and Denmark, by providing more and better accessible, digital services for citizens and businesses, and to facilitate cross border cooperation and interoperability of public administrations;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Highlights that many businesses are not aware of mutual recognition and believe that they have to comply with national requirements in the Member State of destination when trading in the single market; calls for Member States to ensure that mutual recognition principle is applied by their competent authorities;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Draws attention to the problems for service providers, especially in business services, the transport sector and construction, stemming from multiple and diverse authorisations, registration or prior notification requirements;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Draws attention also to the restrictions in Member States as regards the legal form of service providers and their shareholding or management structure, and as regards restrictions on the joint exercise of the profession; considerstresses that these restrictions are serious obstacles to cross-border service provision; emphasizes the need to ensure consistent proportionality assessment of regulatory requirements and restrictions applicable to services;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Emphasises that the notification obligation contained in the Services Directive could have been effective in reducing or eliminating NTBs, but has been neglected by Member States and the Commission; welcomes, therefore, the renewed focus on the notification procedure in the Single Market Strategy, as through early engagement as regards proposed regulatory measures, disproportionate national measures can be revised to resolve issues before they occur; welcomes the introduction of a services passport; highlights that it should not lead to additional administrative burdens, but tackle non-tariff barriers and advance mutual recognition;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Calls on the Commission to address theset out reform priorities of Member Statesand address them accordingly in the area of professional services in the context of the European Semester and country-specific recommendations on deregulating certain professions in the Member States;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Calls on the Commission to deepen its work on enforcement and the principles which underpin the single market; believes that early intervention with regard to national measures or implementation procedures which constitute NTBs may be effective and results more readily achieved than through infringement proceedings; underlines, nevertheless, that for serious or persistent failures or misapplication of Union law, particularly in areas of single market and economic interest, the Commission may prioritise infringement actionust use all available measures, including infringement procedures, to ensure full implementation of legislation on the Single Market and to ensure structural reforms in Member States;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33a. Stresses that accessible, affordable, efficient and high-quality parcel delivery is an essential prerequisite for a thriving cross-border e-commerce for the benefit of SMEs and consumers in particular;